


and if tomorrow it's all over, at least we had it for a moment

by thehonorlord



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dancing, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 11:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16973946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehonorlord/pseuds/thehonorlord
Summary: Set in Season 4, right before Naxzela.Keith attends a diplomatic ball on Olkarion and sees the team for the first time in weeks.They’ve been here before, on this planet, thinking that the war was almost over. But instead of a setting sun, it’s a dim forest that looks like evening. Instead of the whole team, it’s just the two of them. And instead of being at each other’s throat, Lance shifts a little and presses their shoulders together.





	and if tomorrow it's all over, at least we had it for a moment

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this a long time ago and it doesn't super make sense with the canon timeline anymore but I didn't want to waste one of my few Actually Completed Fics, so I finally decided to post this. Enjoy.

The first time Keith sees Team Voltron after leaving to join the Blades is during an official gathering of the Voltron Coalition on Olkarion to discuss how to best take down Zarkon. The Blades send Kolivan and Keith as their delegates; it makes sense, since Kolivan is the leader of the Blades and Keith is a paladin of Voltron. Was. Was a paladin of Voltron.

The conference itself takes all day and, in addition to Coran, the only paladins in attendance are Allura and Shiro. The rest of the paladins are off reportedly entertaining the rest of the delegates in a ‘responsible and dignified manner’. Allura’s words. Keith has to hold back a snort.

Keith sits uncomfortably next to Kolivan, instructed to remain silent and Keith obeys, as much as he hates listening to authority. He tries to catch Shiro or even Coran or Allura’s eyes but they’re focused on actually getting through the meeting agenda so Keith slumps in his chair and tries his best not to fidget too much.

It’s a solid plan as far as Keith can tell. Everyone is desperate to take down the Galra empire as quickly as possible and now that they have a chance reclaim a third of the empire by winning back one planet? It’s a matter of _how_ rather than _if_ they’ll try to take Naxzela.

Everytime Keith wants to speak up, Kolivan seems to anticipate it and sends a glare in his direction so eventually Keith just lets the words fade into the background and starts running through all the things he wants to tell his former teammates. Keith wishes there was a break where he could just _talk_ to them but other than the quick group hug when he first arrived and a pat on the shoulder from Shiro at the end of the conference, he gets no time with them before Kolivan sweeps him away to debrief the Blades about the plan.

After the conference, however, is a ball.

It had been Coran’s idea originally, backed enthusiastically by Allura and Lance. With all the war and chaos, it’d be nice to have one night of celebration with members of the Voltron Coalition to relax and perhaps forget about the war around them. Kolivan had tried to back out but Allura had not so subtly threatened the Blades’ position in the Coalition if he and Keith didn’t attend. Kolivan, probably remembering Allura’s initial reluctance to work with them, had caved.

The ball is nice. After the incident on Arusia, hosting a ball at the castle seems foolish so instead it’s held in the Olkarion forest. Dim lights are strung among the branches and they’re deep enough in the forest that the perpetual sunset of Olkari doesn’t leak through. The main part of the ball takes place in a large clearing but the balconies in the trees lining it are open to all attendees as well.

Keith stands with Kolivan, who kind of looks like he wants to die, on the outskirts of the crowd, almost right where the trees begin. Keith has never been good at socializing, nevermind socializing at a _party_. As much as he wants to reconnect with his friends, he watches them flit around the crowd, chatting with life forms that Keith has never seen. He pretends he’s not watching a certain someone’s every movement. A certain someone who siddles up to every pretty alien and brings their hand to his lips. Keith drinks an unholy amount of nunvill every time he sees Lance dance with one of them.

Pidge and Hunk both make their way to Keith at various points of the ball, introducing him to new people and Keith is delighted to finally meet Matt Holt, but both of them quickly vanish to attend to other social obligations.

Keith feels a dull ache in his chest. It hadn’t been that long since he left and, sure, he had never quite fit into the team as much as he’d liked but he didn’t think he’d drift away this quickly. Well. He had no one to blame but himself; he was the one who left, after all.

Keith scowls at himself and takes a heavy swig of nunvill before hacking out his lungs.

“You’re still trying to drink that shit?”

Keith could recognize Lance’s voice from across the galaxy. He turns and, sure enough, his former right hand man stands beside him, still dressed in the Blue Paladin armour. His hands rest on his hips like Lance wanted to put them in his pockets but forgot that he wasn’t wearing his jacket or jeans and was too stubborn to put his arms down. Keith braces himself for another round of introductions, just as Pidge and Hunk had done. “I was hoping it’d be an acquired taste, like beer or whatever,” Keith says, putting the cup down on a tray floating by.

Lance gags. “Beer tastes like piss. You gotta disguise the alcohol in a cocktail for me to drink it.” He glances at Kolivan, who’s staring straight ahead, as if in a trance. Do Galra have meditative states? Kolivan might be in one of those. “Have you been standing here with your boss all evening?”

Keith shrugs. “Yeah. Parties and balls aren’t really my thing. Or his. It works out.”

Lance rolls his eyes and lets out an exaggerated sigh. Keith’s heart tugs; he’s missed Lance’s theatrics _so much_. “You’re unbelievable,” he says and then turns to Kolivan. “I’m stealing your protégé for a dance.”

Kolivan doesn’t move his head or even blink. “I wasn’t keeping him here.”

Lance grins and turns back to Keith. Keith’s eyes widen. “No, no, Lance, I’m not dancing. No, n— LANCE!” Keith is yanked forward as Lance grabs his wrist and tugs him towards the dance floor.

“C’mon, I haven’t seen you in _forever_ and I need to tease you for something and what better way than to see _you_ , Mr. Socially Awkward, try to dance?” Lance has a dangerous glimmer in his eyes and Keith could easily pull away, drag his heels, anything really, to stop Lance from making him dance.

But it’s nice to have someone give him attention for once and it’s _Lance_ , so Keith lets Lance pull him right into the throng of dancers. “Are you ready to be out-danced?” Lance asks slyly and Keith feels the oh-so-familiar flare of competition fire up in his chest.

“As if,” Keith scoffs, despite having absolutely no reason for his bravado. Lance barks out a laugh before clasping one of Keith’s hands in his and settling his other hand on Keith’s waist. Keith hesitates before bringing his free hand to rest on Lance’s shoulder and before Keith has a second to adjust to the warmth of Lance or how damn close they are, Lance pulls Keith along in a dance. Keith is caught completely off-guard, trips over his feet and falls into Lance who immediately starts laughing. Keith flushes and he’d feel more embarrassed but the sound of Lance’s laughter sets off a fluttery feeling in his gut.

Keith pulls himself away from Lance but not out of his grasp. “I wasn’t _ready_ ,” he grumbles but there’s no real malice and Lance catches that, his smile growing impossibly wider.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Lance says with mock sincerity. “Whenever you’re ready, samurai.” Keith huffs and takes a step forward.

And promptly _stomps_ on Lance’s foot.

To his credit, Lance doesn’t wince or howl in fake (or real) pain. He merely looks amused and like he won this little competition of theirs— which, Keith begrudgingly admits, he did.

“You wanna let me teach you how to dance yet?” Lance asks, his eyes shining with mirth.

“Whatever, man.” Keith tries to look disgruntled but this is the most fun he’s had in who knows how long and he wants it to last.

Lance leans in and Keith’s heart jumps into his throat. “Prepare to be charmed by the one and only Loverboy Lance.”

Keith laughs in Lance’s face because _really now_.

It turns out Lance is a halfway decent dance teacher and Keith’s natural athleticism actually transfers over. Even through snarky comments and Keith intentionally stepping on Lance’s feet a couple times, eventually they fall in a rhythm and Keith is able to hold a proper conversation while dancing.

“How’s Voltron? I heard about the shows,” Keith asks, as they step carefully around other dancers. Lance is still so warm under Keith’s hands and the soft lights halo around Lance’s face. It’s enchanting and Keith can’t tear his eyes away.

“Right, the shows.” Lance laughs. “Voltron is good. Better now that we know what’s wrong with Coran.”

 _What?_ Was Coran _dying_?

Keith’s panic must have shown on his face because Lance quickly amends. “No, no, like he was all weird and that’s why we did the Voltron Show in the first place and—” Lance lets out a long breath. “Lemme start from the beginning.”

Lance is a natural storyteller; Keith is captivated by Lance as he chatters about the absurd story of alien drugs and by the end, Keith’s cheeks are hurting from smiling and laughing.

Lance finishes speaking and grins down at him and suddenly Keith is aware of how much more height Lance has on him than he did before. He gulps.

“How about you?” Lance asks, unaware of Keith’s realization. “How’s the Blade?”

This is the moment Keith has been waiting for. He’s been accumulating little stories, about how he saw another weblum, about how he saw Kolivan trip in an empty hallway, about how fucking lonely Keith’s been— well. Maybe not that one. This is the moment to tell Lance but the words get lodged in his throat. The stories seem so insignificant compared to the ones that Keith has been missing out on. How could he possibly compete? So Keith swallows them, buries them deep and says, “Good, I guess.”

Lance frowns and studies Keith for a few seconds. Keith squirms under his scrutiny. The Lance stops dancing and drops his hands and for a second, Keith is terrified that he’s ruined it all, that Lance is going to leave him and that he’s going to be alone again for the foreseeable future. But then Lance takes Keith’s wrist again and says, with an odd tone of sincerity that Keith had only heard when Shiro had been missing, “Let’s go somewhere quiet.”

Keith lets Lance pull him through the crowd again which is thinner, now that it’s getting later. They make their way to one of the trees on the outskirts of the clearing and Lance leads him up the staircase inlaid in the trunk of the tree. Keith is entranced by the way the fairy lights make Lance seem like he’s glowing.

They come out onto a balcony that faces away from the party and into the forest. The sounds are muted and there’s a slight breeze that ruffles through their hair. Keith breathes in deeply, eyes fluttering shut. It’s been so long since he’s felt natural wind on his skin and filled his lungs with fresh air.

When he opens his eyes, Lance is watching him, his expression carefully guarded. Keith is in the process of trying to figure out what that means when Lance turns away and drops his wrist to stride forward to lean on the balcony railing. Keith pauses and joins him, resting his arm a healthy inch away from Lance’s. Far enough to not be touching but close enough to feel the heat radiating from Lance.

“This is the last time I’ll see you before Naxzela, huh?” Lance says, his voice oddly subdued and looking straight ahead. The implication of the possibility that this is the last time they’ll see each other _ever_ hangs between them and that almost triggers something in Keith. A confession of sorts threatens to bubble up in his throat but he pushes it down.

“Yeah,” Keith says instead. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

They’ve been here before, on this planet, thinking that the war was almost over. But instead of a setting sun, it’s a dim forest that looks like evening. Instead of the whole team, it’s just the two of them. And instead of being at each other’s throat, Lance shifts a little and presses their shoulders together. Like it was an accident. All casual and shit.

Keith doesn’t move away and neither does Lance.

“Is it weird if I said that I really missed you?” Lance asks. His voice is barely above a whisper.

Keith’s breath catches in his throat and the tips of his fingers feel numb. “Considering our past?” Keith manages to say. He feels like he’s treading on hallowed ground now. “Maybe… but no. I missed you, too.”

An unidentifiable emotion flickers across Lance’s face before he hides it again and he tips his head back to look at Keith. “Well, yeah, I’m sure you missed all of us. The Blade is probably a weird place and I doubt they’re as cool as us.”

They’re headed towards dangerous territory and Lance is trying to steer them back into a safe zone but Keith has never been one for safe. “Yeah, but I did miss you. Specifically.”

Lance ducks his head for a second but Keith catches the small smile that Lance couldn’t hold back. Lance looks back up and elbows Keith, a carefully crafted smirk on his face, too well-crafted to be natural. “I bet you say that to all the boys.”

Keith grins. “Maybe,” he says, playing along for a second. This time Lance doesn’t bother hiding the grin that blooms across his face. “But what if I say that I miss having you as my right hand man?”

Lance’s careful mask falls away and he gapes at Keith, which is a fair reaction. Normally Keith likes to keep sentimental things buried deep but… this feels like a dream, as if whatever he says now won’t matter when he wakes up and the only thing that _does_ matter is making sure that Lance knows just how important he is to Keith.

“Sometimes,” Keith says in a low voice, locking eyes with Lance. “Something funny will happen and I’ll turn to try and catch your eye, only to realize you’re not there. Or I’ll need your advice and I make the wrong decision because you’re not there to tell me ‘no’.” Lance’s eyes are wide but he doesn’t look away from Keith. Something about the ethereal nature of this whole scene, the lights, the muted sounds, the breeze and _Lance,_ gives Keith the push to finally cross the line. “And sometimes… sometimes I just want to look at you and remember how lucky I was to see your face every single day.”

Lance’s mouth falls open, his jaw slack. Then he drags a hand down his face, groaning. “You can’t just say that to a guy,” he mumbles, finally breaking Keith’s gaze and turning away. “You’re going to give him the wrong idea.”

“Or maybe the right idea?” Keith replies softly and when Lance faces him again, Keith prays to the spirit of Alfor that he’s reading a situation right for once in his life, leans in and kisses Lance.

Lance inhales sharply through his nose and stiffens and oh God, Keith has ruined everything but when he tries pulling away, Lance’s hands fly up to pull him back in.

The whole world doesn’t fall away like it does in the romance novels Keith used to read out of boredom; instead, everything around him sharpens with terrifying clarity as Lance kisses him back. The dancing lights around them and the decorative patterns spiralling around the trees seem to glow with more intensity, the party music swells and the damp earthy smell of the Olkarion forest peeks through the overwhelming scent of _Lance_.

The feel of Lance’s lips sliding against his, the tenderness in which Lance’s hands cradle his face and the soft smile Lance gives Keith in between kisses makes Keith’s head spin and it’s all Keith can do to squeeze his eyes shut, clutch the front of Lance’s armour and hold on.

Keith doesn’t know how long they stay like this, laughing giddly as they swoop in for kiss after kiss. Somehow, Keith ends up with his back against the railing and Lance pressed against his chest, Lance’s hands running up and down Keith’s arms. Keith is drowning in Lance and he never wants this to end.

“OKAY, FOLKS, THAT’S THE END OF THE NIGHT!”

Coran’s voice booms from a mic, somewhere down below and Keith and Lance jump apart, still clutching each other. They look at each other and Lance giggles, pressing a kiss on Keith’s cheek. Keith could die right here in Lance’s arms.

“WE’VE GOT PLENTY OF PREPARATIONS AHEAD OF US SO PLEASE LEAVE _IMMEDIATELY_ SO WE CAN ALL GET A GOOD NIGHT’S REST! THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING THE VOLTRON COALITION. NOW PLEASE LEAVE.”

Lance buries his head in the crook of Keith’s neck and Keith brings up a hand to weave his fingers through Lance’s hair. “We have to go,” Lance mutters, his lips brushing Keith’s skin. “I…” He stops and lifts his head up again to pull Keith in another kiss, this one deep and Keith can taste all the longing that Lance pushes into it. Keith hopes that Lance can tell that he feels the same.

Lance finally pulls away, holding his hands in fists at his side like he can barely stop himself from touching Keith. “We’re going to talk, after Naxzela,” Lance says. “Promise me, we’ll talk.”

“I promise,” Keith says. Lance smiles and swoops in for one more kiss, soft and lingering. Keith swears he’s floating. He has never been so happy in his life.

“I’m holding you to that,” Lance says, resting his forehead against Keith’s. “I’m going to be really mad if you break it.”

“LANCE, WE’RE WAITING FOR YOU.”

Keith chuckles. “Coran’s calling you. I think you’d better go.”

Lance laughs and pulls away. “I’ll see you after Naxzela, samurai.” He salutes Keith, blows him a kiss and dashes away, leaving Keith leaning on the balcony railing. Keith brings his fingers to his kiss-swollen lips and finds that he’s still smiling. Keith laughs out loud, spreading his arms wide and letting the sounds and smells of the Olkarion forest sweep him up.

He has never felt so alive.


End file.
